Apparatus for the continuous liquid treatment of fabrics



April 14, 1970 I A. REGGIANI 3,505,835

APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS LI UID TREATMENT- OF FABRICS Filed Dec. 8,1966 INVENTOR. ARHHND REGGIAIVI Arman Er;

mp mhwm United States Patent US. CI. 68-22 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Apparatus for the continuous treatment of fabrics openwidthwise with liquids wherein the fabric undergoing treatment thereinis provided with thin surface films of treating liquid, is agitated andis inclined with respect to its horizontal plane of advancementtherethrough.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to apparatusfor the continuous treatment of fabrics open widthwise with liquids;more particularly in this invention relates to apparatus forcontinuously washing, desizing, leaching (lixiviating), acidifying,neutralizing or for any other operation that involves the treatment offabrics with liquids.

It is known that treatment of fabrics with liquids may be effectedeither while the same are in open width, that is with the piece offabric being spread out widthwise, or in rope form, that is with itswidth not spread out.

In the known machines for the treatment of fabrics open widthwise withliquids, for example in washing machines, the fabric is subjected tonumerous dippings or immersions into a vat containing the treatingliquid, which is preferably maintained in a state of turbulence in orderto favor continuous action of the liquid on the surface of the fabric.In certain cases, the fabric is, furthermore, subjected to a shakingaction by suitable means, completely submerged in the liquid mass, suchas eccentric or vibrating spindles.

The numerous repeated dippings or immersions of the fabric into the vatcontaining the liquid are obtained by means of alternatively arrangedtransmission rollers, some completely immersed in the liquid mass andsome without this mass, with the consequent disadvantage that rollersimmersed in the liquid mass require a continuous control and burdensomemaintenance. In fact, the bearings of these transmission rollers, sincethey are continuously in contact with the more or less corrosivetreating liquid, are subject to rapid wear and thus require frequentcleaning and replacement, which cause even prolonged stoppages of themachine.

Furthermore, and still owing to the fact that the bearings of saidtransmission rollers are immersed in the liquid, and that for thisreason no ball bearings can be fitted to the same supports, the rollersthemselves are not very smooth running and are therefore readilysusceptible to wear, wherefore the known machines are rather limited intheir working speed and the fabric treated thereon is subjected torather high tensions in order to maintain said transmission rollersrotating. These tensions may sometimes even cause the breaking of thefabric, with all the obvious inconveniences deriving therefrom.

Furthermore, in the known machines of the above cited type, thepermeation of the liquid through the fabric is not very eflicient andcomplete even at low working speeds, in consequence whereof thetreatment of the fabric by the liquid is limited only to the superficialzone of the fabric and does not extend also to the inner fibers of thefabric itself.

'ice

Therefore, an object of this invention is that of providing apparatusfor the treatment of fabrics open widthwise with liquids, for instancefor washing, in which apparatus all the above cited drawbacks anddisadvantages will be avoided.

Another object of this invention is that of providing apparatus of highefficiency and output capacity which will allow a high speed treatmentof the fabric, while obtaining a homogeneous treatment of the samefabric also for its innermost fibers through the efficient and completepermeation of the treating liquid through the fabric itself.

A still further object of the invention is that of reducing maintenanceand operating costs, thus ensuring a considerable economic advantage,also reducing the tensions to which the fabric is subjected duringtreatment, thereby avoiding possible stoppages due to breakages or rentsof the fabric itself.

THE INVENTION Surprisingly, it has been found that the above and stillother objects, that will appear even more clearly to any expert in theart from the detailed description that will follow hereunder, areconveniently attained by a machine for the continuous treatment offabric open widthwise with liquids in which the contact of the fabricwith the liquid is achieved via the formation on the surface of thefabric of a thin film of treating liquid which accompanies and permeatesthe fabric itself throughout its course within the apparatus, thepermeation of the liquid through the fabric being made more effective bymeans of vibrations and/or shaking imparted to the fabric, as well as bya suitable inclination given to the fabric with respect to thehorizontal plane.

The invention will now be described more in detail with reference to thehereto attached drawing, given for illustrative purposes, in which thesole figure of drawing represents a longitudinal cross-section of onetreating unit according to one form of embodiment of this invention.

This treating unit is constituted by a metal framework 1 suitablyanchored to a Supporting basement 2, which supports the treatmentchamber 3 made of sheet metal, preferably of stainless steel sheet.Numerals 4 and 5 mark respectively the cover and the bottom of thetreatment chamber 3; 6 indicates a panel with inspection ports for thevisual control of the interior of the treatment chamber 3, into whichthe same is cut.

Inside the treatment chamber 3 are mounted pairs of rollers 7 and 8;rollers 7, which are driving transmission rollers, are driven by amotive source not indicated in the drawing, while rollers 8 are idlingor freewheeling rollers and are saddling with their weight on rollers 7.

Externally rollers 8 are lined with a layer of rubber 9 or of anothersuitable elastic material, thus exerting an elastic pressure on rollers7.

With 10 are indicated transmission rollers cooperating with drivingtransmission rollers 7, which have a hexagonal cross section and act asvibrating swifts or spindles. Rollers 10 are idly mounted within chamber3.

Rollers 7 and 10 of each pair of rollers are suitably sized and arrangedso that the fabric 12, guided by said rollers, will form with thehorizontal plane an average angle at of about 78 on the onward leg 23and of about 77 on the return leg 24.

As average angle one understands the average value of the angle that thefabric 12 forms with the horizontal plane, and which will vary owing tothe effect of the vibrations and/or shakings to which said fabric 12 issubjected under the action of the rotating hexagonal swifts 10 orfollowing the action of other similar or equivalent systems. The valueof said average angle on may be 3 selected according to requirements,but preferably it is chosen in the range from 50 to 80.

With 11 are indicated some devices of a tubular shape suited forspraying the treating liquid over the full width of the piece of fabric12 passing through the inside of the treatment chamber 3.

The bottom of chamber 3 forms the collecting tank for the treatingliquid coming from the spraying devices 11, said tank 5 being crossed bypipes 13 which are connected, by means of respective flanges, on the oneside to a vapor source and on the other to a vapor exhaust, said pipesserving to warm the treating liquid contained in the tank 5.

With 14 are indicated some diaphragms which partially separate the tank5 into a number of intercommunicating cells corresponding to the numberof vibrating swifts with 15 is indicated an overflow or a level spillwaythat conveys the exhausted treating liquid to the outlet of thetreatment chamber 3 through discharge 16.

In the spraying devices 11 is fed the fresh treating liquid; however,also a feeding with recycle liquid may be foreseen, which in such casethe same will be drawn from tank 5 by means of a pump 17 driven by motor18, as shown in the drawing. In such a case the recycle liquid, beforeit is fed to the sprayers 11, will be properly purified by passing it,for example, through a filter 19 as shown in the drawing, or by means ofother suitable systems, as the case may be.

The above described equipment may constitute either a single individualtreatment apparatus or it may form a unit suitably connected to othersimilar units, so as to form a greater continuous treatment apparatus.In such a case the above described treatment unit will be hydraulicallyconnected to the other units through flanged orifices 20 and 16.

Given this case, the outlet 16 will have to be connected to inlet 20 ofthe unit placed upstream, while inlet 20 will be connected to outlet 16of the unit placed downstream with respect to the direction of the feedmotion of the fabric. In this way a counterflow circulation of thetreating liquid is realized with respect to the feed motion of the pieceof fabric 12 to be treated.

The operation of the machine object of this invention is the following:

The piece of fabric open widthwise, that is spread out to its fullwidth, is advanced, in the direction shown on the drawing by the arrows,by means of driving and transmission rollers 7, which impart the motionto said fabric 12 inside the treatment chamber 3.

Before entering said chamber 3, the fabric passes onto guide roller 21.

The fabric, while passing through the pair of rollers 7 and 8, isslightly squeezed due to the pressure exerted by rollers 8 resting onrollers 7; this squeezing of the fabric permits one to predispose thefibers of the fabric to be in the most suitable condition for beingsoaked with the treating liquid sprayed on by sprayers 11, each onesupplying on the full width of the fabric a quantity of treating liquidsuflicient to form a thin film of said liquid over the whole surface ofthe fabric, which liquid film, while performing its treating action,will accompany the fabric itself up to the transmission roller 10,acting also as vibrating swift.

The sprayers 11, since they are arranged on both sides of the fabric,form the above said film of liquid on both surfaces of the fabricundergoing treatment.

Vibrating swift 10, which may be of polygonal crosssection, as shown inthe drawing, or which may be replaced by an eccentric shaker or vibratordevice, or by any other equivalent means, is mounted in an idling wayand therefore is made to rotate by the fabric 12, causing by saidrotation a continuous vibration or shaking of the fabric itself and ofthe film of liquid in contact with the fabric, thus facilitating thepenetration and intimate permeation of the liquid throughout the fabric.The permeation of the liquid through the fabric, in order to permittreatment of the innermost fibers, is made more efiicient by theinclination of the fabric 12 with respect to the horizontal plane incombination with the vibrations or shakings to which the fabric issubjected. Furthermore, swift 10 being partially immersed in the mass ofliquid contained in the collecting tank 5, as indicated in the drawing,though its support is arranged without said liquid mass, said swiftcauses a shaking of fabric 12 on the surface of the liquid masscontained by tank 5. The shaking on that surface is efiicient for thetreatment of the fabric with said liquid, particularly because such ashaking takes place with the fabric inclined at an acute angle withrespect to the free surface of the liquid mass contained by tank 5; saidinclination is made possible both by the convenient arrangement ofrollers 10 with respect to rollers 7 and by the polygonal shape ofrollers 10.

According to a variant, still falling within the scope of thisinvention, rollers 10 may also be arranged completely outside the liquidmass contained in tank 5, thereby renouncing the shaking of the fabricon the free surface of the liquid of tank 5.

By means of the pair of rollers 7 and 8 and by swifts 10, said treatmentis repeated in chamber 3 a number of times.

It must be remarked that rollers 8 are fitted with a device, known perse, which allows one to regulate the squeezing pressure according toneed until reducing it to zero, if necessary.

Fabric 12 on leaving chamber 3 passes through a device 22, known per se,and not described herein, which serves the purpose of squeezing thefabric at the end of the treatment or between the treatment in one unitand that of the following unit.

Employing the apparatus of this invention constant and eflicient contactbetween the treating liquid and the fabric to be treated is obtainedwithout immersing the fabric in the liquid mass, except for immersing itonly superficially in a few instances.

In this way none of the supports of the transmission rollers are incontact with the treating liquid and they may therefore be fitted withball bearings, thus eliminating the drawbacks previously mentioned.

The advantages of this invention may be summarized as follows: highoperational speed of the machine (about double that of known machines);reduced tension of the piece of fabric under treatment with consequentreduction of the possibility of apparatus stoppage because of tearing ofthe fabric or because of needed maintenance of the roller supports;saving in the manufacture of said supports, which may be of thetraditional design not requiring any liquid-tight devices.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of the present inventionmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it isto be understood that the same is not intended to be limited to thespecific embodiments thereof, except as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for the continuous treatment with liquids of fabric openwidthwise without danger of creasing or folding the same, whichcomprises a treatment chamber having a collecting tank for the treatingliquid utilized; means for advancing the fabric to be treated in lappedrelationship through said chamber comprising a series of driven upperrollers and a series of lower rollers, said lower rollers beinghorizontally displaced relative to said upper rollers and the axes ofrotation of and supports for all said rollers being parallel anddisposed without the collecting tank; means for feeding in lappedrelationship the fabric over the upper rollers in succession withintervening passage under a lower roller; a third series of rollersperpendicularly disposed relative to said upper rollers and idlycoacting therewith to subject successive laps to an individual squeeze;the said lower rollers ex- 5 6 hibiting an irregular cross-section suchas to impart an 4. The apparatus as defined by claim 3, wherein theagitating motion to each Of Said laps Of advancing fabric lower rollersare hexagonal in cross-section, without creasing or folding the same andbeing so horizontally displaced relative to the upper rollers as toeffect References Cited an average angle of inclination of fabricadvanced through the chamber of from between 50 and 80 with respect to 5UNITED STATES PATENTS the horizontal plane of advancement of the fabric,and 2,976,713 3/1961 Mann at 68-22 said lower rollers constituting thesole means for impart- FOREIGN PATENTS mg the said agitating motlon, anda plurality of spray 1,529 1880 Great Britain.

means for providing and substantially continuously main- 10 tainingthin, continuous surface films of treating liquid upon both sides of thelapped fabric while concurrently permeating the same, said spray meansbeing individually disposed such as to interpose their action on theadvanc- 228,835 2/ 1925 Great Britain.

908.5 60 10/ 1962 Great Britain.

922,302 3/ 1963 Great Britain. 87,03 6 2/ 1921 Switzerland.

ing laps between the successive squeezes thereof. 15

2. The apparatus as defined by claim 1, wherein the WILLIAM PRICEPrimary Examiner rollers are ball bearing mounted. U S cl 3. Theapparatus as defined by claim 1, wherein the 62 lower rollers arepolygonal in cross-section. i

